Ex-cop sentenced for fatally shooting son at motel

HERKIMER >> A retired upstate New York police officer has been sentenced to six months in jail for the accidental fatal shooting of his 37-year-old son during a trip to the Adirondacks.

Local media report that 61-year-old Michael Leach was also sentenced Tuesday in a Herkimer County court to five years’ probation for shooting his son Matthew in their room at a motel in Old Forge in July 2012.

At the time, Leach was working as a police officer in Perry in Wyoming County.

Leach had retired as a captain with the Rochester Police Department.

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Leach told authorities he was sleeping when he awoke and shot a person he thought was an intruder.